M-I-Z-We Own You!

Illinois vs. Missouri (Big Ten Network Highlights)

Illinois vs. Missouri (ESPN Highlights)

8 in a row feels sooooo good! Undefeated against Missouri in my college career!

A Piece(s) of Advice

21 Big Lessons from Little Kids

"3. Asking questions is how you figure things out. Lots and lots of questions.
4. An older, wiser Gordie Lachance says in Stand By Me, "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12." Lachance is right. The trick is to try to be the friend you were when you were 12: fun-loving and loyal, with no strings attached.
5. Playing is work. Approach your downtime with all the seriousness of a 5-year-old with a secret treasure map.
6. Real guys don't dip their toes in the water. They jump right in."

Just Be Yourself: "I have a gymnasium philosophy. Everybody's been in a gym. You look to the right, you see somebody in better shape. Look to your left, you see somebody who's dying to be in your shape. So you have to be happy in our life and know you can always go either direction. It's up to you."

Keeping it Real: Authenticity You Can't Fake It:

"Regardless of what I'm doing, I want to be authentic. That is a real key to success in every walk of life. If you're authentic, people pick up on that, they appreciate that. They're drawn to authenticity...I want people to know my flaws and weaknesses, know that I'm not perfect. I don't want to preach from the pulpit. I want them to know the real person." Mark Schlereth

Christmas and Truth

"The Wise Men from the East brought gifts to the Newborn King. Yet, the babe in the manger offered a gift to the world that marvelously complemented their generosity: the gift of Truth.

The Magi, like the philosophers who were seekers of wisdom, were also seekers.

“Here is the important point,” writes G. K. Chesterton in The Everlasting Man, “that the Magi, who stand for mysticism and philosophy, are truly conceived as seeking something new and even finding something unexpected. ... The discovery is, in this case, truly a scientific discovery.”

The Christmas story is not merely a beautiful and endearing story. It is a historical event and the “scientific discovery” of a truth that discredited all competing mythologies.

It gave religion a new birth, one that was wed to truth. It was also significant that it was born in a cave, a place where truth is not easy to find." The Magi and Their Scientific Discovery

This article was really interesting and it put Christianity into perspective of what Jesus came for to bring Truth and everlasting life for all humanity. It is a gift that many people have been unable to accept for over two-thousand years, yet the Truth still prevails as Christmas shows us each year. God humbled himself by coming to earth born a man in the lowliest of places in a stable amongst the animals as a sign of his love for us. This is the gift that we all should humbly receive into our hearts this Christmas to look on that manger scene with humility and joy for the hope of a new beginning to share with friends and families. To all a very Merry Christmas!

Linus speaks the Truth:

Man vs. Wild

Bear Grylls is the Man! He just knows a lot about nature and can put himself into any situation and get out of it. What I like the most is that he is willing to try anything-like eating raw Goats testicles, building a camel tent, going into an ice crevice on a glacier in Patagonia, etc. he isn't afraid to do anything and knows he can accomplish anything! I think that is one thing that people cannot handle is giving credit to people. They want to find the fault in what people do even if they do something great. There has been speculation that Bear has not "roughed" it as the show claims, but you know what I wanna see the average person who watches the show go out and do what he does. Would you eat raw goats testicles or sleep in a dead camel? How about jump in a mountain pond just to show how to survive in it or run around naked on a glacier to get body warmth back? Ya, he is awesome and one thing that all men should take from it is whatever you do, be awesome at it, work hard, and strive for better!

Laugh, Think, and Cry

I left 80 and Sunny for 25 and cloudy?!

Well Wednesday night was spent hanging out with the rest of the managers just taking in the rest of the time to hang out and reflect on how fun the trip was.

Thursday November 21
I woke up about 7:30 and ran outside for 15 minutes, then did some more cardio/abs at the fitness center and then took a stroll/picture extravaganza along the beach until breakfast. After Breakfast around 10:30 I laid out for a bit and hung out with the guys until we left. The day was absolutely gorgeous and was very hard to leave! Our bus left around 1 for the airport and we departed for LA around 3:45 and arrived in LA a little after 10. We had about an hour layover and flew out to Chicago around 11:50 and got into Chicago around 5:30 or so. The bus ride home went by fast and we got into Champaign about 8:30ish.

Thoughts on the Trip:

• If Hawaii was not so far from Illinois and expensive to travel, I would probably move out there because it is just so nice out there all the time and the people are really friendly-my new favorite word is "Mahalo" which is Thank You in Hawaiian
  
• The Pineapple is amazing! I probably had about 5 total for the whole 8 days we were in Hawaii.
• I am glad I was fortunate to go on the trip; makes me realize how lucky I have been to be a manager and all the awesome experiences and opportunities that it has provided me in my four years in college.
  
• If there is another time that I have the chance to go back to Hawaii- I definitely will try; if not Aloha!!
  

Duke and Oklahoma St.

Tuesday November 20
Well after being kicked out of the bed, I got up around 7:15 and worked out before breakfast. After breakfast we headed to the gym for a short shootaround to prepare for the Dukies. After shootaround/walkthrough we went back to the hotel for pre-game meal and to focus for the game ahead. We left the hotel around 3:15 for the game against Duke at 4:30. We started out alright leading into ten minutes into the game, but then they went on a run and stretched the lead over 10, but the Illini got it under ten going into halftime. We came out on a nice little run after halftime and got the lead down to 3, but they quickly got it over 10 and every little run they made they had a counter for it, as the Illini fell 79-66.

A few observations from the game:

• Duke doesn't help the snotty we're better than you attitude-Singler and Scheyer are little punks, with that being said, they are better than I thought, but any team with a good inside game and doesn't shoot 36% for the game will beat them-UNC.
• Henderson is a stud-athletic and can shoot
• I think we are definitely going to be better than A LOT of people think. We play hard0-led by Chester and if Brian stays healthy and plays they way he has we will be Big 10 Contenders and a Tournament Team.
• Not many teams will outrebound us-we had 19 offensive rebounds and outrebounded them by 10 total
• The bench will be a factor in a lot of games because they can bring some depth and a breather to guys while not losing much
• That being said, we still need to defend without fouling and knock our outside shots down
• You DON'T mess with Chester-Singler picked the wrong guy right there and was lucky because it would not have been pretty for him
  

Wednesday November 21
With the loss to Duke, we had an early turnaround to play at 11:30 a.m. Wake up was at 7:15 and pre-game meal at 7:30 before we left at 10:20 for the game. The LSU and Arizona St. game went into OT, delaying our game. The Illini finally took the floor against the Oklahoma St. Sooners who absolutely got spanked by Marquette, which was going to make this an interesting contest. After the Illini took an early 9-7 lead, they never looked back taking a 13 point lead at halftime and turning it into a 16 point victory.

More Notes:

• Trent and Calvin really stepped up-Trent hitting some shots and Calvin just doing a little of everything, which was big since Brian Randle went down with an injury; Congratulations to Calvin for being on the Maui All-Tournament Team!
  
• Our defense was relentless at times, sometimes we got lazy, but overall you could tell OK ST. was just wittling under the pressure-part of that is the depth and how well we play defense-just need to keep it up
  
• Overall, 3-1 on this Hawaii trip is good. We won a close one and won some games going away. I thought we could have played better against Duke, but I think it is something to build on. Also, going 2-1 at Maui was what I expected and I think it might be better to leave with a victory than possibly a loss for our confidence. The Illini learned a lot about themselves as a team and there is room for improvement, but I think Coach Weber has these guys headed in the right direction for the rest of the season!
  

After the game it was back to the hotel which then we were free until tomorrow about 11 when we leave for home! It's gonna be hard to leave 80 and sunny for 30 and snow. When we got back I worked out and gonna stay it easy the rest of the time, enjoy the sun and the beach!

ALOHA!!

I need more sun!

Sunday November 18
Sunday morning I woke up and went to Mass at a little church about 4 miles from the resort. After I got back it was time for breakfast and then I walked down aways from the resort to a small shopping center. Then it was fun in the sun! I ran on the beach-not the smartest idea, as I tore the back of my toes up a little-then went in the ocean before we had practice. Practice was at a small High School gym in Lahaina and was very hot; Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery were at practice which would benefit the managers greatly! After practice we went to a banquet for all the teams, families, and boosters which was cool. All the coaches of the teams talked and it was an enjoyable time. After the banquet we had team meeting and then it was bedtime!

Monday November 19
Woke up around 7:15 and then worked out until breakfast at 9:30. We had shootaround at 12 and then had pregame meal around 2:30. After that I went outside for a bit to lay out and catch up on my reading. We left around 5:15 before our game at 6:30 against the Arizona St. Sun Devils. The Illini came out firing goin up 20-0 before they scored. They came back a little bit and at halftime we only had a 14 point lead, but blew it open and finished em off to win by 23. Brian Randle and Rodney Alexander had 17 points and the whole team played well and it was a good win-BRING ON DUKE! Towards the end of the game Jay Bilas was giving the managers some props at practice when we were being loud and making noise, trying to make it a game like atmosphere for the guys. He must have liked it and talked about us on ESPN! That's pretty sweet if you ask me. Also, MJ was there sporting the Orange Illini Polo shirt-saweeet and you can bet he will want the Illini to beat Duke tonight just as bad as anyone else! After the game it was back to the hotel for team meal and meeting and then bedtime!

Hawaii!!! Day One

Ohya, you could say I am in paradise right now! The Illini left Chicago yesterday at 9:15 from O'Hare (after a 6 o'clock wake up call) and then arrived in Honolulu around 2:25-a nice little 9 hr flight and to top it off we got "leid"! Once we got to our hotel, we had a nice lil snack and then had practice from 6-8:30ish. After that it was just a nice relax time. This morning I woke up about 7 and ran outside on the beach-absolutely beautiful and then worked out. Had breakfast-which was delicous and then to the beach to soak up some sun and bask in His Glory! After practice we went sight seeing into the mountains and then along the Sandy Beaches. They were awesome and had some awesome views and there's just something about all you can see is water and more water. After that we had dinner along the beach at this buffet at another hotel-high class and fancy. After that we walked around till team meeting to get ready for Hawaii!

Friday November 16-Again I woke up and ran along the beach and hit the weights before breakfast. Then we had shootaround and came back and went out to the beach and sat and read which was very peaceful. We had pre-game meal and then a little relax time untill we left for th game at 6:30.

The game was at 8 and it didn't start to well and the Illini went down by 6 at halftime. We came out and got it down to four, but they got it up to 13 with 12 minutes to go. From there the Illini went on a 30-15 run with Calvin driving and putting in a layup with :05 seconds to go to put the Illini up 79-77!

Saturday November 17-woke up and worked out and watched the Illini footballers defeat Northwestern to go 9-3! More victories in one year than in my previous 3 years combined! We took a half hour plane ride to Maui, had lunch, practice and then a meet and greet with all the other teams in the Maui Invitational. Steve Holdren and Mike Davis were in the EA Sports March Madness tournament on Xbox. Steve lost his first round game, but Mike won his and then lost in the second round. From there it was just some nice relax time in a hammock and then to bed!

ALOHA!!

ILLINI VICTORY!!

The Upset

Freshman year I saw the Illinois Basketball team beat the #1 Team in the Nation when the Illini DESTROYED the Wake Forest Deacon Demons 91-73-the score was not indicative of the outcome, we completely dominated.

Senior year- The Footballing Fighting Illini upset #1 "The" Ohio St. 28-21 on Saturday to improve to a record of 8-3. Now with a win next week against Northwestern they can go to 9-3 and a great bowl position. What a great year-exceeded any expectations that not only I had, but I think a lot of Illini nation had! ILL-INI!!! J Leman should be among the Butkus award finalists, for all the Juice haters-the Juice tastes good! and for Coach Zook-we BelIeve!!!!



Fighting Illini 1-0!

Meanwhile the Basketballing Fighting Illini got the season started off with a victory over Northeastern. Now it's off to Hawaii to face the Golden Rainbows-can you make a nickname anymore feminine-and then to bring back the trophy at the Maui Invitational!

D-Will on Jim Rome

Ooooh Deron so good soo smooth and it all started with that three-pointer against Arizona (well it started before that, but it pretty much exploded after that)...

Illinois vs. Quincy

Pretty good job young guys!

Bowl Eligible!

With a win over the Ball State Cardinals,
The Fighting Illini Footballers became bowl eligible! The 28-17 win gave the Illini a 6-3 record heading into Saturday's contest with the Gophers of Minnesota. The Illini SHOULD win because let's just say the Gophers have not had much of a bite to them this year, but hopefully they don't let this game turn into Iowa.
The Illini NEED to finish 2-1, beating Minnesota and Northwestern. I don't think we stand a chance @ Ohio St., but you never know. That would for sure get the Illini into a nice bowl game instead of some bowl game that's name is as long as a sentence. The Defense held a pretty good offense in check only giving up 10 points. Again they won the war, but lost some of the battles. They do what they have to to get the win. J Leman led the way with 11 tackles giving him 100 tackles through 9 games. He is just all over the place-and hopefully he'll be playing on Sunday's next year.

Rashard was a beast running the ball for 189 yards on 28 carries for an average of 6.8 yards per carry and 2 TD's. Juice had a serviceable game passing 7-15 for 145 yards, but did have 2 Int's-one of which Rashard probably should have caught. Juice also ran for 99 yards and 2 TD's. Arrelious Benn had 4 catches for 97 yards-they need to get him the ball more.

Notes: The Fighter Pilots that flew over the stadium before the game were awesome.

One another side note: Congratulations to Mr. Corsi and the Gibault Men's Soccer team-Back to Back to Back Class A Champions! Gibault Soccer is pretty much becoming a dynasty.

Illini Basketball vs. Quincy tonight...

Curtis Martin and a trip to Chicago

Last Friday (19th), I got the opportunity to take Curtis Martin, the President and Founder of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) back to the airport after his visit to U of I. Matt, Jordan Schneider and I, were given the task of getting Curtis to Chicago for his flight ont ime and mission was a success. It was really cool to be able to spend 3 hrs with Curtis because of how extremely busy his schedule is. At the same time you see why he founded FOCUS because of his burning desire for Jesus and wanting to change the world or shall we say "Set the World on Fire." Curtis was on Campus to give a talk about "What is truth" concerning moral relativism and how messed up Truth has become over the years in the world. Jesus said " Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6)." On the trip, I had two essential questions for Curtis: Is it worth it-being a FOCUS Missionary and If you could tell a student one thing about becoming a Missionary what would it be? His answer to the first one was based on my first question that if the call to be a missionary was in your heart then, yes it was worth it. Besides the priesthood, there are not many other ways to excel or grow in virtue and righteousness as a missionary. So there are some things for me to ponder as I try to figure out what I am going to do with life after college-FOCUS Missionary or HS Teacher/Coach??

On the way back we stopped at Our Lady of the Angels Church. It's cool to visit other churches and see how they are built and to see the wonder of HIS-story played out through history, particularly the story of salvation and the great saints of the church. The church itself had many beautiful paintings and sculptures that you just look at and see God's glory in them. Then we stopped at Ed Debevic's which was interesting in itself because the waiters are supposed to be rude and obnoxious towards the customers. Our guy was more obnoxious and could have done a better job. I enjoyed the trip because it was a way to get to know Jordan and Matt a lot better and spend some quality fellowship time with them. I think it also helped me with my life question and it was cool to meet Curtis Martin and see his vision of FOCUS.


This depiction of St. Michael the Archangel makes
me want to be a warrior (Exodus 15:3),
Curtis mentioned as being a (also touched on in Wild at Heart) warrior as a missionary. Biblical Masculinity and Holy Manliness at it's best!!

Bo Ryan cranks dat Soulja Boy

Alright Coach Weber, it's your turn...this could be one of the funniest things I have ever seen...

If I could be like Mike...

The Greatest Basketball Player of all time was at Ubben today-yes the Great Michael Jordan, and I was lucky enough to be about 15 feet away. I was too scared or the opportunity never presented itself to shake his hand or challenge him to one-on-one, which I would have had a good chance because he was in jeans and dress shoes. So, in a couple weeks the Interview between MJ and Matt Lauer will be on the Today Show and Jason may appear in the background. I had to restrain myself the first time I saw him, but was able to control myself the rest of the time.




And Frankie Williams was there at practice today-just pretty cool to see Illini Greats comeback and help the program!

Illini Midnight Madness-Think Orange and Wear Pink

Friday night officially kicked off the college basketball season! This year's Midnight Madness was a lot of hoopla, with not a lot of hoopin', but was fun and exciting none the less. The dance teams were crazy, because no way would I ever be able to do anything remotely close to what they did. I thought the best was the dude break dancing who spun on his head like 10 times.




Props to my boys, J-Steff, Matt and Mitch the FOCUS Missionaries and the rest of the Johnnies for taking on Ball4Real- former And-1 tour players. They stuck with em, but missed some shots and gave up a few too many dunks; poor Mitch got posterized!








Trent Meachem's team won the 3-point contest with Trent only missing 3 shots total out of a possible 12-ridiculous. That's what he is here foris to shoot the ball and we are going to need a lot of that this year for the Illini to be successful. Mike Davis aka. Brian Randle's Little Brother, took the Dunk Contest with his high-flying act! The boy is long, lean, and athletic-let's hope he puts some muscle on that frame and make a career out of dunking on people and scoring 15 points a game. Highlight of the dunk contest was Jeff Jordan putting on a retro Bulls MJ jersey and throwing one down-I think Jeff got his athleticism from his mom...






As for the scrimmage itself; it was more of play around time, see who could get some sweet dunks in and make the crowd go "ooooh" and "aaahhh," which they did, so mission accomplished. Now all the Illini need to do is put the hard work in practice, get down to the nitty gritty details and fundamentals, put it all together to be a hard nosed scrappy Illini team that can make some noise in this year's college basketball season!



Random Thoughts:
If Brian Randle stays healthy he has a good chance to have a great year, much like Warren did last year.

I thought the idea of wearing pink was cool, but I am glad its just for one night. It was weird not having the Hall painted Orange.

Illini Basketball is looking up these days with the recent recruits giving verbals (well with recent history a verbal doesn't mean much, but I think in these cases it's a good verbal).

Preseason Predictions:
MVP: Brian Randle
Most Improved: Chester Frazier
Hustle: Chester Frazier
Sweet 16!!

Cub Fans: Please Stop Believing

You just feel sorry for Cub's fans.

Caddyshack - Chevy Chase shares his wisdom

So yesterday I decided to go golfing since I hadn't in over a year and it would be my last free Sunday in a long time, I said what the heck. Only $14 (what a deal) after 3 pm, I could get 18 in before dark (could have played more, but because of the slow and lack of quality golfers in front of me, I wasn't) and enjoy the beautiful day and some peace and tranquility of the golf course. Other than the waiting at about every shot on the front 9, I managed to go out with a 40 starting the first three holes with pars. After the 11th hole the people in front of me left and I was able to get ahead of the people behind me and hit two or three balls at times or putt 2 or 3 to sharpen my game. Battling the setting sun I came back to the clubhouse with a 40 to finish with an 80, give or take a few shots. I was glad and surprised by the way I played because of how long it had been, but I did go to the driving range a couple weeks ago to see if I still had it. I was very pleased with my ball striking with my irons, I could have putted better, but wasn't bad-did have a 3 putt though. My driver was toying with me, the first hole was my best drive, a ripper right down the middle and the last hole was much the same with a little tailing action. I am still getting used to the new driver after I snapped the head off of my old one. All in all it was a relaxing time and a good way to enjoy a beautiful Sunday!

I wish I could have played more this summer and if the teaching career doesn't go so well, maybe, just maybe I could sharpen my golf skills...probably not, but with that "Thank You very little"

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

That's another win for the Fighting Illini as this time they take down #5 Wisconsin Badgers 31-26. I liked how J Leman said it best in an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this morning "I had my big-boy pads because Coach Zook challenged me,'' linebacker J Leman said. "I think we got them out of their game plan.'' The Illini took a 17-0 lead and never looked back, although the stinkin Badgers would make it close several times, the defense made the plays when needed and the offense did their thing.




Rashard ran for 160 yards and 2 Td's, while Juice ran for over 90 and passed for 121 yards and one TD ( a little shovel pass forward to Rashard). Arrelius Benn again showed signs of brilliance making spectacular catches and breaking tackles before getting hurt late in the 4th quarter (5 catches for 51 yards). Juice went down late in the 4th after Rejus, and Eddie McGee came in and sealed the deal by handing the ball off to Rashard or keeping it himself sealing the win with a 5-yard TD Run with 5:28 seconds left in the game. The defense held the Badgers to a late touchdown and on the ensuing kickoff was able to handle the onside kick and run out the clock.

My game ball would go to Rashard because not only did he have 160 yards rushing on 19 carries, but also 33 yards receiving on 4 catches and three total touchdowns. He was able to break numerous tackles. The best run was in the second half, if I remember correctly, he ran left was basically stopped behind the line of scrimmage broke the tackle and cut back right for a gain of like 15 yards or so. It was just simply ridiculous.

Other notes on the game: This is the first time the Illini have been 3-0 in the Big 10 since 1990 and first victory over a top #5 team since 1989. In Ron Zook's first 2 seasons, the Illini only won 4 games TOTAl, now they have 5 wins this season! The defense has some fine tuning to do. They win the war, but lose some huge battles. Late in the game they were starting to get to the QB Donavan and made two big interceptions; one by Mitchell and the other by Vontae Davis who outjumped the taller Wisconsin defender. They have seem susceptible to the big play downfield, especially on 3rd and long. They have shut the run down, allowing Wisconsin RB P.J. Hill to just 83 yards on 21 carries, and Hill has been one of the Big 10's top backs this year, def behind Rashard. On offense Juice made some great plays with his feet, and was quietly effective with the passing, completing 12 of 19 passes (63%). When Rejus went down, it hurt because the other receivers need to work on getting open and actually catching the ball, Hudson dropped a pass that probably should have been caught. Fullback Russ Weil made a SPECTACULAR grab for 31 yards, wrestling the ball away from the Wisconsin defender and setting up a touchdown-he has been great for the Illini without receiving a whole lot of attention. Jason Reda stayed perfect with a 50 yard field goal and making all his PAT kicks.

If the Illini keep playing like they have, are capable of, and make the right adjustments there is no reason they should go to Columbus and think of a Big 10 championship (while focusing on the rest of the games which they should win and are very winnable). The Ohio St. and Michigan games are the biggest tests left for the Illini, granted that they don't look past the other teams.

VICTORY!

The Illini down the #21 Penn St. Nittany Lions 27-20 and are now 4-1 (2-0 in B10). Could the be in the top 25 this week? We'll see as the pesky Badgers of Wisconsin come to Memorial Stadium next week to test the Young and Talented Illini!

Juice lines the Illini up for the play in the First Quarter. The Illini raced out to a 14-3 lead after Penn St. took an early 3-0 lead, but on the ensuing kickoff Freshman wide-out Arrelius Benn took it for 90 yards to paydirt and then later would catch a pass from Juice for 29 yards breaking several tackles to take it to the endzone and give the Illini a 21-10 lead. Going into halftime the Illini led 21-17 and things looked very promising for the young squad. The Second half was dominated by defense as Jason Reda tacked on 2 field goals from 47 and 33 yards to preserve the Illini Victory. The Defense came up huge forcing 5 TO's- 3 late interceptions to stop Penn St. Drives and 2 fumbles, one by the Penn St. QB that ultimately sealed the deal. J Leman, Vontae Davis, and Kevin Mitchell all had interceptions that were huge defensives stops for the Illini and Mitchell's sealed the victory over the Illini. This win was Coach Ron Zook's first over a ranked opponent since being at Illinois!

The game was awesome, other than being right in the sun and lack of offense in the second half, but the defense made big stop after big stop. Juice is almost there with his passing, the receivers dropped some passes as well, but I think people, especially students, need to be a little more patient, because other than the 2nd interception he was fine. It's not like McGee came in and was amazing, other than that huge run. To quote Lovie Smith "Juice is our quarterback." Campus is actually excited about football and things are looking up. Only 2 more wins for a bowl bid-can they do it? They Better or my college sports career just won't be complete!

Am I really learning?

Here is an evaluation of the classes I have this semester-the last real classroom classes ever!

HIST 273- Illinois History with Prof. Mike Rosenow- I really enjoy this class, getting to know the history of Illinois and it's role in American History. Prof Rosenow makes it interesting getting the students involved in the lecture.

377-America since 1932 with Prof. Mark Leff- This has also been really enjoying, except for the that that it is just a lecture for an hour and 20 minutes. This class allows to get more in-depth with American history than what you would get with a textbook. We had our first test today so I guess I'll truly know how much I'll like the class-haha.

498- The Body in Western Christianity with Prof. Megan McLaughlin. This class has been really interesting as I never knew how much the physical body was incorporated into theology and thinking about Christianity. It's also challenging to me to learn more about my faith and also to be open to the opinions of others.

CI 403 with Mike Woods- "Well there Gang" I have learned a lot of teaching models in the class and how to use case studies to illustrate certain points of learning especially in history. Woods has done a lot with making sure we understand the various models and how to apply them to our teaching in the classroom. I guess I'll have that opportunity while observing at Rantoul High School starting October 9th for 5 weeks!

SPED 405 with Prof. James Shriner- This is another one of those education classes that is probably needed, but just seems the point is dragged out and it just gets boring learning about it and not seeing it in application. Prof. Shriner is funny and makes the class somewhat exciting, which helps, but it's not a class I look forward too, but it will be helpful when I have special education students or needs in my future classroom.

EPSy 485- with Prof. Catherine Ryan- This class deals with assessment and again is needed, but just can be dragged out so much that it gets boring in a hurry. It's important for us to learn how to write a good test or what is the most useful way to test student learning. It just gets repetitive after awhile and would better be seeing in application in the classroom.

Mike Gundy Lectures the Oklahoma Media

I think what Coach Gundy did was right, well maybe not right in going off in a press conference like that, but the message was needed. I think college athletes get criticized too harshly sometimes and I think it is very ironic that we who criticize them couldn't even come close to performing at the level that these student-athletes do. Even Coach Ron Zook seemed to agree with what Gundy had to say in his Ron Zook interview on 590 the Fan KFNS (Spet. 26). Zook agreed the the players are like his "kids" and that they are just people that sometimes may get overly scrutinized sometimes, especially since they are not getting paid to play like the professionals (but that to an extent is debatable). Zook, also said he was glad it wasn't him blowing up like that, he even admitted to having gone after the media in that way, but not to the extent. I like coaches rants when they are needed or the message is positive; it shows their passion for the game they coach and for the players they lead.

Where's my hair!

So, I decided to buy a set of hair clippers which cost me the same amount for a haircut, yet I can use them over and over and over. So, usually when I am at home, Mark cuts my hair, but who would do it when I am at school? Well, I put my trust in Morgan to not mess it up and it turned out great! A haircut energizes me for some reason.

BEFORE

AFTER

And on another note the Illini Footballers improved to 3-1!!

The Cardinal's Season

So the past two games against the Phillies have typified the Cardinals season.

Monday's Game: The Cardinals starter Brad Thompson-his first year as a major league starter, gives up 3 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings and Anthony Reyes-his first full year as a starter gives up 5 earned runs in 1 1/3 innings and going into the 6th inning the Cardinals were down 11-0. Seemingly a unsurmountable deficit to overcome, but in the bottom of the 6th the Cardinals put up 3 runs and in the 7th scored 6 run putting themselves back in the game, down 12-10. The got it to 12-11 before losing 13-11.

Tuesday's Game: Cardinals starter Todd Wellemeyer who has been a journeyman picked up by the Redbirds this year pitched 2 innings only giving up 1 run as the Cardinals went up 3-1 going into the 6th, when Kip Wells, who has been awful as a starter, but for some odd reason great coming out of the bullpen gave up 2 runs to tie the score. The teams traded runs in the 10th before again reclamation project Mike Maroth who besides his very first start for the Cardinals has been pretty much awful (since that start his ERA has gone from 1.23 to 11.25 with the Cardinals for all those mathematicians out there that is a 10 run increase), gave up 3 2-out runs in the top of the 14th and the Cardinals fell 7-4.

Now back to my first point, the Cardinals have dug themselves a hole the whole season. I know losing Chris Carpenter for the whole year hurts the pitching staff, but that still doesn't make up for those who are out on the field for their production or lack thereof. On August 5th the Cardinals lost to the Nationals 6-3 (again blowing a great start by Wainwright) completing a 1-5 road trip against bottom dwellers Pirates and Nationals, which put them 8 games back (50-58). Later that week Rick Ankiel was called up on August 9th and in his 3rd at bat blasted a 3-run homer to help the Cardinals beat the Padres 5-0. Since August 6th until September September 7th, the Redbirds had made up 7 games and were looking good going to Arizona with Wainwright starting and giving the team a chance to be in a tie for first place. But once again they wasted a great start by Wainwright and lost 4-2. Since then the Cardinals have gone 1-12 in their last 13 games. What the cause for the turnarounds? The first one, I think Rick brought a new energy to the club and some new hope. Pickup Joel Pineiro was pitching well and Wainwright had one of the lowest era's among starters since the all star break. Then on September 7-9 reports of Ankiel's past use of HGH came about. I am not directly blaming that for the sudden plunge, but it didn't help. Since then Rick's batting average has gone from .353 to .282 and has only had one extra base hit and hasn't had a hr since he hit 2 against the Pirates on September 6th where he had his best hitting game as a major leaguer. But the real problem has been starting pitching, other than Wainwright and Braden Looper the rest of the staff is so unpredictable and the bullpen which has saved the team so many times has looked shaky lately. So who's to blame-it's really a culmination of things: Injuries, under performance, pitching woes etc. The Cardinals were lucky to be in the NL Central who by default will have a playoff contender and have any chance at the playoffs, but really ownership needs to get real ballplayers and guys who want it. No more Kip Wells shrugging his shoulders when he gives up a hit, or rushing Mark Mulder back, which I don't think they did, but he hasn't been anything short of awful since he has come back. After Friday nights loss to the Cubs after Wainwright gives up only 1 run, the season was over and now the Cardinals have fallen to 70-80 and 8 games out and all but assuring a season ending record of under .500 for the first time in a long time.

So, in closing the Cardinals season has been a series of highs and lows, with the lows being more prevalent. They fell into the valley and couldn't quite get up the hill and then fell completely back into the bottom of the valley. Brendan Ryan put it well in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch well this morning, "These two weeks, 2 1/2 weeks have been the longest weeks ever," Ryan said. "How many times have we come back and fallen just short? Even (Tuesday). Come back all the way to the 14^th and just can’t seem to get over the hump."Here's to the hope that the experience the young guys have gotten helps for the Cardinals return to the top of the NL Central next year-I had to borrow that line from a Cub's fan.

For some humor from the Mike and Mike show:

"You are the biggest wimp in all mankind" – Golic to Greeny

"I was thrown off the chess team for not being athletic enough"-Greeny

Canada Trip

Day 1 of 2007 Illinois Basketball Candadian Tour Friday August 31, 2007

Friday we left Ubben Basketball Complex around 1:30 CT and departed Willard Airport around 2:30 leaving sunny skies and a balmy 80 degree day. Arrived in Ottawa around 5:30 ET. On the plane ride we crossed over beautiful Lake Erie and the Canadian landscape was very woodland, lots of trees, very scenic. We arrived at our hotel around 6 and had a little pre-game snack and left for our game against Carelton University, the 5 time reigning Canadian Champion (something that will never happen in NCAA basketball). The gym was about the size of a high school gym here in the states maybe a big sized one and their was a lot of people there (mainly to see Jeff). Trent, Rich, Shaun, Calvin, and Chester started and at halftime the Illini led 33-28. It was kind of sloppy but that was to be expected a bit. Well we couldn't close the deal in the second half and went into overtime tied at 64-64. In OT Rodney hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to put us up by 3 and the Illini held on 74-72. Demetri played really well breaking some ankles and making some nice passes, Steve made some shots, but had to leave with a sprained ankle. Jeff played well considering he had the most attention on him and had the biggest crowd response. After the game went back to the hotel for a post-game snack and then to bed!

Some things I noticed that were "different" was that the road signs were in metric and had both English and French on them, were the same colors as our signs back in the States. We passed the Candian Football Stadium for the Ottawa Roughriders, which was neat, and there is a man-made canal that goes through Ottawa with a bike/running path on both sides which made the city very scenic. The houses were built differently, but were very nice looking on the outside, other than that it was hard to tell that we were in Canada.

What Black Squirrels?

Day 2 of 2007 Illini Canadian Tour Saturday September 1

8 am wakeup for Jason to run along the canal path, a little 20 min run nothing major, but still made me feel like I accomplished something! Cooler than I expected, but the sun was out and it was neat to run along the canal-on the way back to the hotel I about got attacked by 2 BLACK squirrels. Who knew that Canada had black squirrels? When I got back to the Hotel, I finished my workout with some abs at the fitness room and then showered and gave the players their wake up call at 9. Then it was time for breakfast/pre-game meal which was delicious-a nice lil sausage, cheese and tomato omelet with some yogurt and granola/dried fruit mix.

At 10:30 we left for our game against the University of Ottawa Gee Gee's at 12. The gym was smaller than Carelton's, but was decent size, most American High Schools are probably bigger, but all you need is a regulation size court, hoop, rim and a ball and your good to go.
We led at Halftime 39-29, it was sloppy to start, partly we used FIBA rules, but execution of plays on offense was a little better. We pulled away a bit thanks to Illini Nation's favorite walk-on Chris Hicks who came through with 5 clutch points in the end to put the illini on top 73-56. Demetri had 7 assists in the first half and Rodney had a monster block that literally looked like he was spiking a volleyball over the net and he also had a monstrous put back dunk! Shaun had his productive 17 and 9, and we about had a bunch of people in the locker room chasing after Jeff.

On the road to Montreal at 2:30 and watched "Shooter" which I liked, had a lot of action and Mark Wahlberg is a stud in the movie. The landscape was all trees on both sides with some farm land and we stopped at a gas station/KFC/BK/Pizza Hut/Dunkin Donuts for a snack and then arrived in Montreal at around 5:30 and headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, where I ordered the Chicken mac-n-cheese which was very delicous. After dinner we had a lot of free time and I went and found a church for Sunday morning and from the outside it looked very beautiful! From what I could tell Montreal seems to be more "French" than Ottawa was, and upscale/rich/metro, and just a lot of stuff going on. After bed checks, I went to bed to get some rest for another action packed day!

Basilique Marie-Reine-Du-Monde Cathedrale"Mary Queen of the World Cathedral"

Sunday September 2 Day 3 of 2007 Illini Basketball Canada Tour

7:45 wake up and workout run on the treadmill 20 mins, some abs and push ups and then 10 mins in the pool-it was too hard to resist. Then at 9 I walked to Church for mass at 9:30 at the Basilica of Mary Queen of the World Cathedral. It was all in French which made it interesting, but really the only times I was lost was during the readings and homily other than that I knew what was going on and felt like I could participate fully in the mass. It was very beautiful inside and is a smaller version of St. Peters in Rome. There were some differences in the way mass is in America to mass in Canada, but nothing major. Overall it was a new spiritual experience for me! Then it was back to the Hotel for breakfast and some relaxation before the game against Concordia University at 2:00.

Left the hotel at 12:30 and the game at 2 didn't go very well for the Illini, getting stung by the Concordia stingers 86-82. The gym was ridiculously small, probably the size of a grade school gym in the states. We didn't play very well, no life, no energy, seemed to not want it where they did and they shot ridiculous. Well it will be a wake up call and def showed some things they need to work on for the season.

Then it was back to the hotel to dinner at Reuben's steakhouse where I devoured a 16 oz. steak which was delicious and def filled me up. Jeff got a drink from a table of girls for which he caught some smack from the guys. After dinner walked around with some of the guys and just took the city pretty much. We stopped at a pool hall/bowling alley/club atmosphere which was really "chill" and cool. We left as it was getting pretty full and headed back to the hotel. Watched half of Ocean's 13 with Brian R, Chris, Mike, and Trent and after bed checks at 11 I went to bed as I was falling asleep during the movie. It seemed like the first three days have gone by fast, but I am (did) looking forward to going home!

Day 4 of 2007 Ilini Basketball Canadian Tour Monday September 3rd

Well again I got up around 7:15 and worked out by doing some elliptical and shoulder and abs before breakfast at 8:45 which was a nice ham n cheese omelet. We left for the game at 10:30 to take on McGill University at 12. We were supposed to play the Canadian Military team afterwards, but that was canceled because of lack of bodies and injuries that we had. Well we won and that's the important thing, 107-103 in 2OT! It was exciting for the fans, but not for us, I would rather blow everyone out of the water than have a close game, but it should help us in the long run. Champaign's Finest, Trent (20) and Steve (19) led the way scoring with some big 3's down the stretch. It looked like last years team where we blew a big lead late and missed free throws at crucial times in the game. From what I could tell it was a nice campus with a lot of construction going on (reminds me of another university) and the gym was a big junior high gym. We left at around 3:45 to head the airport and had pizza on the way. We arrived in Detroit about 6 to go through Custom's check and that lasted about an hour and we were back on the plane and headed for home at 7. We arrived in Champaign at 7 central time and after getting everything in order at Ubben I made it back to the apartment at 8 to a nice surprise of Morgan baking cookies that were absolutely delicious! So, after a nice and long trip it was back to the grind of school!

Tiger Wood's and his Dominance

This is just going to be a continuation from my xanga blog. I guess I didn't like how only xanga members could comment on my posts and I like the simpleness of blogger and how Google makes it easy to incorporate everything and not have to remember all these names and passwords.

This is from the article on ESPN about Tiger's victory at the Tour Championship this weekend in Atlanta and his dominance of the PGA's attempt at a playoffs, the Fed Ex Cup. Tiger skipped the first of four events, placed second in the 2nd and won the 3rd and 4th. Ya, think he is driven to win? Whenever guys would get close, but he just kept pumping in those birdies.

"Tiger Woods increased his season earnings to $10,876,052 -- $29,114 short of the record set by Vijay Singh in 2004, when he played 29 times. Woods played 16 events this year."

"It just makes it harder for the rest of us,'' Johnson said. "Why give him another thing to try to achieve? He's a very driven man. When you add another element to that drive, what are you going to do?''

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3023301
Are the other guys on the PGA just giving up when he is leading after 3 rounds. It looks like it, but it would be hard to disagree with them.

The Fighting Illini Footballers won @ Syracuse on Saturday 41-20. It looks like the running game could be very dominant this year and as long as the defense doing it's thing, could the Illini football nation be smelling a bowl? I sure hope so.

Here's to an awesome week and one filled with adventure and fun! Peace!